Blood Meridian – Or the Evening Redness in the West

By Cormac McCarthy

Three out of Five Stars

Blood Meridian – Or the Evening Redness in the West, the fifth novel by Cormac McCarthy, author of The Road and All the Pretty Horses, amongst others, is a tough novel to read; at times I was enjoying it, and at others, I was bored. In the course of reading it, my reaction to it shifted many times, but now that I’ve completed the novel I have to say I’m glad to have stuck with it during those times it was wearing on me.

The novel follows the journey of ‘The Kid’ a teenager in the 1830’s who finds himself in the company of Apache hunters, hired by a Mexican Governor to collect as many scalps as they can. Theirs is a journey full of peril and violence; a journey where when a group of men come upon another group of men, they are more than likely to attempt to kill one another, then let each other go about their merry way.

The common theme of those who have read Blood Meridian and are recommending it, is that you won’t believe the violence in it – that the book will shock and repulse you with it’s depictions of death and the depravity of man. This aspect was less startling to me. Having read extensively about the Wild West, as well as other moments in Humankind’s existence, the violence and depravity committed in this novel are no worse than what you can read in most history books. If you’re not well-read in this area, or a student of the darkness that lies in human souls, I guess Blood Meridian would be quite shocking.

While I enjoyed, at times, the journey ‘The Kid’ was taking, and was fascinated by the books most unique and intriguing character, Judge Holden, at times I found it tedious. A good part of the book seems like a travelogue, McCarthy describing in detail the terrain the characters are crossing; while interesting at first, after a while I could do without it. With such interesting characters, I would have enjoyed a further exploration of who they were and their true motivations. I’ve read that’s part of the books intent, not to explain the characters, but just focus on the senseless violence, but while that may satiate some, I’d prefer to delve further into their heart of darkness.

I have my own thoughts about Blood Meridian in that upon coming to the books end, I believe what I had read was one man’s – or teen’s – journey through 19^th Century Hell – a world where there are no heroes and only evil exists.

Blood Meridian is a good novel, and certainly one I’m glad I read. And while it has left me conflicted at times, not conflicted enough that I’m not going to read more of Cormac McCarthy’s books.

Finding Inspiration When Writing

July 12, 2015

Quite some time back, I said I would blog about finding inspiration as a writer; the act of doing so is unique to all writers. While there is no way to tell someone how to be inspired, I can relate how it works for me.

When it comes to writing, I would refer to myself as a working man’s writer. There are some authors who have the luxury of being able to sit around waiting for inspiration to grace them; these writers, no doubt bestselling authors, who have enough money to do so, can take up to a year or two, or more, to complete a book. I don’t believe, even if I had that luxury, I would do that.

My inspiration comes simply from the act of writing. When I decided to write my first book, I set a daily goal for myself - namely, I wanted to write 1,000 words a day. If you can accomplish this, in three months you’ll have enough words completed for a book-length manuscript. (Of course, the words and story have to be good enough to call it a book).

In setting a goal like this, you can’t guarantee that every day you’ll be inspired, or know where you’re going, so I did what I read in a writing magazine – just write. I remember one day, while writing Tripping on Tears, I really wasn’t inspired, but I had trained myself so well to write 1,000 words a day, that I felt guilty if I didn’t. So, on this particular day, I just sat down and wrote – where I thought the story should go. I remember thinking, as I wrote, that what I was writing was terrible. I knew, in the back of my mind, I’d probably be erasing everything I wrote the next day; what I was doing, was making sure I kept up my routine; that I sat down at my keyboard and tried.

Now I got lucky. The next day, when I read what I’d written, it turned out it was actually good – it had also taken me in the right direction. What I discovered for myself was that the story lived within me, even if I wasn’t aware of it, and by just typing it found its way out. I discovered I had to believe and trust in myself as a writer. I can’t wait for inspiration, but if I put myself in the write environment, doing what I love, it may just find me.

I got lucky that day, and many other days. I just wrote and continued writing. Most of us live in fear of losing what we’ve written. To find inspiration, as opposed to waiting for it to find you, you have to write and write without the fear of it being crap and needing to be thrown out the next day. If you can live with the possibility of mistakes, you’ll discover that great things can also happen. Erasing 1,000 words is not the end of the world, but might be part of the process you need to engage in to find your way in the story you’re telling.

Open your eyes to the world around you, observe, read, interact, and then trust in yourself; sit at your keyboard and write – don’t wait for perfection, but set about trying to find that day’s perfection. Just do it and who knows great things might just happen?

Finding the Writer Within

July 12, 2015

I’ve been away from my diary for a bit; like most of us, it can be hard to find the time to accomplish everything that needs to be achieved in the hours we’re given each day. If I look back on it, I guess I’d have to admit to a fair amount of wasting time, but what can I do, I believe that’s hardwired into, well – me.

Actually, I’ve been hard at work finishing my zombie-horror novel, Barkerton. I started it when I was a young writer and was unable to complete it, although over the years I’d managed to get it up to about 90,000 words – with only about another 10,000 to 15,000 needed to complete it.

Barkerton helped define me as a writer. The process of writing a complete manuscript was daunting. As a lover of movies, I turned to screenwriting, which is a little more controlled; you’re restricted to writing no more than 120 pages if you’re going to make it in that field. It’s not that it’s easy to do, just a little more structured.

My initial failure with Barkerton kept me from writing books, despite the fact I had ideas for novels – ideas that couldn’t be contained in the confines of a movie script. I let those ideas fester; some of them crying out for attention, but ignored.

It wasn’t Barkerton that wasn’t ready, but instead, me. Now that I’ve written three thrillers and finished Barkerton, I’ve come to understand that at the time I embarked on my first novel, I was too immature as a writer. For some people, writing, and writing well, is easy, but not for all of us. When I look back at that early manuscript I understand there is something there, but not something of publishable quality. I needed time to find my voice, and develop my skills; something that screenwriting unexpectedly helped me with.

Barkerton has been re-written and completed, but only because I was finally ready to complete it, and had finally developed the skills that allowed me to complete it. Looking inward and understanding our weakness is something difficult to do. I appreciate the skills I’ve developed, and the fact they’ve been developed, but only now understand it has been part of a lifelong process I couldn’t have hurried, even if I’d want to. Finding your voice as a writer is important and necessary; you’re going to want to share your work, and in doing so, you should make sure you put your best foot forward – if you’re lucky enough to find a readership, they deserve that.

So, whether you’re there or not, keep writing, keep challenging yourself, accept creative criticism and grow; the journey is worth it.